Quantification of α-Synuclein Binding to Lipid Vesicles Using Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy

α-Synuclein (αS) is a soluble synaptic protein that is the major proteinaceous component of insoluble fibrillar Lewy body deposits that are the hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. The interaction of αS with synaptic vesicles is thought to be critical both to its normal function as well as to its pathological role in Parkinson’s disease. We demonstrate the use of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy as a tool for rapid and quantitative analysis of the binding of αS to large unilamellar vesicles of various lipid compositions. We find that αS binds preferentially to vesicles containing acidic lipids, and that this interaction can be blocked by increasing the concentration of NaCl in solution. Negative charge is not the only factor determining binding, as we clearly observe binding to vesicles composed entirely of zwitterionic lipids. Additionally, we find enhanced binding to lipids with less bulky headgroups. Quantification of the protein-to-lipid ratio required for binding to different lipid compositions, combined with other data in the literature, yields an upper bound estimate for the number of lipid molecules required to bind each individual molecule of αS. Our results demonstrate that fluorescence correlation spectroscopy provides a powerful tool for the quantitative characterization of αS-lipid interactions.